A CHURCH RESURRECTION
Part I
Gary Becker, Director of BBM
https://www.heartlight.org/gallery
[This series of posts are based on actual church consulting experiences with some additional insights gained from similar church consultations. Thus, the posts do not necessarily reflect one particular church.]
The pastor resigned after a short term ministry. Unfortunately this has been the history of the church for the past several pastors over about a twenty year history. Pastoral turnover often leaves a church discouraged and without the ability to effectively lead a pastoral transition. Short term pastoral ministry is a primary factor in churches facing closure or continued ineffectiveness.
SEEING THE REALITY
Someone recommended to one of the remaining leaders our ministry with BBM. A call was made and a preliminary meeting was setup. An agreement was made to begin a first step consultation. In this step a basic evaluation was made and it was determined that the church was not ready for a simple pastoral search. The basic evaluation revealed no theological issues and no significant conflicts in the church. It also revealed the church was at a critical point in a struggle to survive.
Th next step led to me being called as a Consulting Interim Pastor (CIP). Serving in this position was not to simply “hold the fort” till a new pastor was found. The position of a CIP is to identify past issues leading to the short term ministries, address the current needs, and help build a plan/vision for future ministry. The CIP needs to be very objective, look at the potential and even confront things that will limit the future of the ministry.
Step 3 was a deep evaluation and attempts to build a core from the existing members. A pastoral search was not producing any good possibilities. During this time the church continued to lose hope and some members including a key leader left the church. This left church in significant leadership crises. There seemed to be no hope. The church was now on “life support” and some were ready to “Pull the plug.”
SEEING REASONS TO LIVE
However, there were reasons not to let it die.
There was no other church in the immediate area that was Biblically solid.
The building was usable and in a key location.
Financially the church had no debt and had some financial reserve.
The remaining people had a desire to allow God to use what remained.
There was a belief that only God could give this church a future.
Multiple options for the church were considered to “maintain” the church. The realities needed to be faced.
The only non-negotiable was Biblical truth. This church was committed to the teaching of the Word of God.
Without change there was likely no future.
The name of the church was a “sacred cow” that had to be offered as sacrifice. Actually the realization was that thye needed to be ready to sacrifice all.
Help from outside was an essential. A special need was for leadership beyond just a pastor.
These and other issues were addressed in both meetings and from the pulpit by the CIP. Using scripture and practical teaching people began to accept that the future of the church may not look like the past. A key principle taught was that growth often only comes from dying. The truth of John 12:24 reminds us, “unless a grain of wheat fall into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” Some of the remaining members struggled with some of the teaching and the picture painted by the CIP but became increasingly ready to sacrifice all in order to see the church raised to new life.
The simple lesson to this point is that until a dying church is ready to sacrifice all there may be no hope. But remembering God is able to raise up what is dead. This is where hope begins when you ask The Lord to do what only He can do.
[Part II of the Post is coming soon]